The Kenora Rotary Club, their partners, and community agencies all celebrated the beginning of construction of the Rotary Club Splash Park yesterday, with a celebratory barbecue and sod-turning event.

“The ceremony went well. We were really happy with the number of people that came out. We had a big crowd and a lot of children present, which is what we were hoping for, so now we can move onto construction,” said Rotary Club President Deb LeMaistre.

After a tender was received, the total cost for the project is now estimated at over $530,000. To date, Rotarians have raised over $500,000 for the project. LeMaistre added that the Rotary Club is still fund-raising for a bit longer.

“Thank you to the community, the support has been amazing! If you haven’t donated yet, there’s still time.” LeMaistre added.

Last week, the Rotary Club released the final design of the Splash Park. LeMaistre hopes that the park will be open next summer, when Rotarians celebrate their centennial anniversary.

The splash park was originally going to be built closer to the Norman Park Beach, but the city said that the water and sewer lines would not be able to accommodate the park. Instead, the park is now set to be built on the old Norman hockey rink, with the extended water lines from Minnesota Street.

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